Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
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Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• Do you remember the present
progressive?
• It’s used when a person wants
to say that an action is
happening “right now.”
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• It uses the present tense of
estar + the present participle.
• No puedo ir al cine. Estoy
estudiando para el examen.
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• To describe something that was
taking place over a period of time
in the past, use the imperfect
progressive, which uses the
imperfect tense of estar + the
present participle.
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• Estaba esquiando cuando me
caí y me torcí la rodilla.
• I was skiing when I fell and
sprained my knee.
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• The present and imperfect
progressive tenses use the same
irregular present participles.
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• Remember, to form the present
participle of -ir stem-changing
verbs, e changes to i and o
changes to u:
E>I
decir?
diciendo
pedir?
pidiendo
repetir?
repitiendo
seguir?
siguiendo
servir?
sirviendo
vestir?
vistiendo
O>U
dormir?
durmiendo
I>Y
• For the following -er verbs, the I
of -iendo changes to y:
• creer?
• traer?
• creyendo
• trayendo
• leer?
• leyendo
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• When you use pronouns with the
imperfect progressive, you can put
them before estar or attach them to
the participle.
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• ¿Qué estaba haciendo cuando te
cortaste?
• Estaba afeitándome.
• Or
• Me estaba afeitando.
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• Note that the imperfect progressive
describes what was taking place
while the preterite tells a specific
occurance in the past or interrupts
the action.
Imperfect Progressive
and Preterite
• Ella estaba corriendo cuando se
lastimó el tobillo.